I really loved this one! The writing sucked me in from the beginning and I loved the characters. This was a really great read!!

I had to DNF this one...the plot was too much for me. I love magical realism plots and YA novels...but this combo was not for me.

I struggled a little connecting with this one. I found myself often forgetting Anna's age. She skews a bit older than she reads though the central issues skew younger. The main plot follows a relatively predictable trajectory but got a bit strange at teh end. It's a bit meandering and lacking in focus.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for a copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

This was a very different book than I have read recently or was expecting it to be. I think this book would technically be middle grade as opposed to YA, but I think it can comfortably be in both categories. This book follows Anna Lucia Bell the summer she turns 14 and has her life even more up ended than it was the year before. Anna believes in luck and feels like she has VERY bad luck; 13 was the year of her parents divorce and losing her best friend (not death, just no longer friends). She doesn’t feel like 14 is going to be much better, considering it starts with her mom telling her that the bookstore she grew up in (family business) is being sold and they are going to spend the next month on the east coast in her great-aunts house that her mom inherited. This was a slow building book – it took a long time for me to feel like I was getting into the story, and it didn’t feel like a lot was happening for a while. This is a super personal problem, but I found the main character really stubborn and childish at times, which made it hard for me to read. I do realize she is 14 so it made sense – she really was acting her age – but I had a harder time with it, but this is not a reason to NOT read this book. It had a fun *twist* and I think it had a really nice ending. I am glad I read it, even if it isn’t going to be a book I go back to.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This book was everything I needed at the right time - it was sweet, and light, and hopeful. It felt like a hug, a popsicle, and a good friend on a warm summer day. One I can definitely see myself recommending in the future. Leno wrote a beautiful story that worked its way into my heart, and I'm not upset about it in the slightest.

This was such a beautiful story. I love Katrina Leon’s writing so much, and I really enjoyed this little magical story about a small town in the summer. If you’re looking for a YA coming of age with no romance (for the main character), then this is definitely one to pick up! Anna is struggling with her parents’ divorce, and a break up with her best friend. She goes to spend the summer at a cottage, and meets some new friends, and gains a lot of perspective. I really loved this!!

I really enjoyed Katrina Leno's writing style and vivid imagery in Summer of Salt, and the same sentiment applies here. This book drew me in instantly and I really enjoyed not just the plot, but the amount of intricacy and detail that really made the story come to life.

I actually really enjoyed this story. I found myself picking up my reader to read on a regular basis because the characters were likable, the story was interesting, and you really wanted to root for the characters. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Sometime in Summer is a heartfelt, thoughtful exploration of divorce and life changes through the eyes of a young teen. Anna’s having a terrible streak of bad luck. Her parents are divorcing, but she doesn’t understand why. Her mother is selling the family bookstore and upending everything Anna knows. To top it all off, Anna and her mother are spending the summer in the beach town of Rockport, away from her dad and friends. However, Rockport has its own surprises - and a bit of magic - in store for Anna.

Katrina Leno has done something special here - she explores some pretty heavy, serious, and mature topics while never speaking down to her audience or losing the charming summertime ambiance she weaves around the town of Rockport. This was charming, emotional, and an absolute delight.

This was a really great summertime read. I loved the mix of real life and the fantasy aspect of her life. It was wholesome and such a good friendship/family centred read

Sometime in Summer was a book that from the very first line I just knew it was going to deliver a powerful message to its audience. The book follows a 14-year-old girl named Anna who is left reeling after having a falling out with one of her best friends and learning that her perfect-for-each-other parents are getting a divorce. While taking a summer trip with her mom (with dad visiting for a bit in the middle), Anna slowly discovers that there is more to love, sacrifice, and friendship than she initially believed.

The character development in this was a solid A++, two thumbs up, 10/10 would recommend. Anna learned so many valuable lessons about love and friendship in the short couple of months that she spent on her family vacation. She even makes huge steps at the end to learn from her previous mistakes and become a better person. The actual plot took a while to get the ball rolling (approximately 200 pages in this 400-page novel) but since it was a very character-driven story, I honestly didn’t mind.

In addition to its powerful messages, Sometime in Summer also has the fun trope of bookish themes. Anna’s mom owns a bookstore and has the knack for finding the specific book that will change any given individual’s life. Anna herself (who is still trying to find her book) struggles to enjoy any of the books she reads (which I’m totally blaming on the fact that she’s reading classics). Those two things together mean that there are a great deal of well-known/popular titles thrown into the book’s dialogues.

I always get nervous reading books with any sort of time travel and/or magical realism, but this one did not disappoint! While the actual concept of this book was a little cheese-y, the writing in this book was just so beautiful. It was a great coming of age story with writing that was so mature, yet still felt geared toward a middle grade audience (as advertised). Even reading this as an adult, this book really left an impact on me and I'll be thinking about it for a while!

My Rating: 5/5 stars

My Review:

I received an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review via TBR and Beyond Tours and place on this blog tour – thanks!

I told myself that I was going to find the Katrina Leno book for me, and I believe I have finally found it with Sometime in Summer. I love Leno’s writing style and characterization, but the plots have not always been my favourites. However, this book had me hooked from the first page and I could not put it down. I am not afraid to admit that I cried a lot reading this book. It was such a beautiful portrayal of familial relationships amidst a divorce, and god, I am definitely not crying again thinking about it.

This book is hard to review because at the heart of the story is a ‘plot twist’ that defines the story; one I do not want to spoil for anyone. So instead, I’ll talk about Anna, our fourteen year old protagonist and all of the internal conflict she has throughout the book. She has the issues most teenagers do, struggling to find who she is, while dealing with the ups ad downs of friendships with one of her best friends. This trip to Rockport gives her a new perspective, a new view on friendship that helps her to carry forward. I loved the way she grew by the end, and though it leaves off with her story far from complete, it leaves the reader with a sense of hope.

I think this book deals really well with the topic of divorce: all of the confusion and feelings that children face when their parents split up. This confusion is tenfold for Anna, who does not understand why her parents are getting a divorce. They are still best friends, and as the story goes on, and the pieces start to come together, the heavier emotions come to front. I really loved the relationship between Anna and each of her parents, but especially her relationship with Miriam. Miriam is such a wonderful soul (I want to be her friend), and you just can’t help but ache for her through Anna’s POV.

This book is a love letter to summer, to book stores and beaches, and to the strong bonds that we form with our parents and friends. Sometime in Summer will make you smile, and laugh, but most definitely you will cry at least once reading it. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Sometime in Summer releases June 28th

This was a great book for summer! I liked the characters, and think the book was really well written. Overall, I would definitely recommend trying this book!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I ended up DNFing this one, which is super disappointing because I've really loved everything else I've read by Katrina Leno. I can't quite pinpoint my issue with it. Maybe its because the protagonist is younger and reads younger, which is good just not for me. OR maybe it's because I was reading it on a plane, which I hate, after dealing with a series of travel catastrophes.

Full review on blog https://www.abbyreadsandreviews.com/post/sometime-in-summer-katrina-leno-blog-tour

Katrina Leno's writing is truly magical. I love how her prose flows beautifully but doesn't turn purple. Every sentence has an impact to the characters, the story, or the reader and it's just perfection.

I didn't realize when I requested this book on NetGalley that the main character Anna was only fourteen, but I loved her and her story regardless. I really felt for her and could understand why she was such a believer of bad luck. Her mother Miriam seemed at times almost too whimsical to be true and her father seemed a little out there but I really love how the author blended that extraness into Anna's perception of the world and her parents.

I don't want to spoil anything but rest assured that this book has the perfect amount of magic. Leno does a great job of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy enough to make the reader feel like anything is possible while also maintaining that ground in reality.

In addition to the loveable main character this book also has a charming setting. A small seaside town during a summer meteor shower- what could be a more perfect setting? It complemented the magical elements of the plot perfectly.

I would 100% recommend this book to fans of magical realism, stories of growing up, and quick summer reads.

i love katrina leno! no one combines summer and humor and family and fun and friends and magic and banter like she does. this was a little more middle grade than i anticipated - our protagonist is 14 and this is mostly about her relationship with her parents - but i still liked it so much!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to read this book early. This book made me think and it was just the book I needed for a summer read. I enjoyed the story that it kept me turning the pages! I am so incredibly grateful for the early opportunity to read this one! Thank you!